Starting an OMERS pension before 65 can produce a monthly payment that is higher at first and then drops at 65. The reason may be the bridge benefit, a temporary component of the OMERS pension rather than a reduction caused by starting Canada Pension Plan (CPP). The OMERS bridge benefit is temporary pension income that may be included when an eligible member starts an OMERS pension before age 65. It supplements the lifetime pension until age 65, then ends. Your CPP start date does not control when the OMERS bridge stops, and the two benefits are calculated separately.
How the OMERS Bridge Benefit Fits Into Your Pension
An OMERS retirement pension can have two components before age 65: the lifetime pension and, when you qualify, the bridge benefit. The lifetime portion continues for life. The bridge portion has a fixed endpoint. This structure is built into the OMERS pension calculation. It means the amount deposited before 65 should not automatically be treated as the amount you will continue receiving afterward.
For eligible service, the bridge is calculated using:
0.675% × credited service × the lesser of your best-five earnings or AYMPE
Your best-five earnings are the average of your highest 60 consecutive months of contributory earnings. AYMPE is the five-year average of the Year’s Maximum Pensionable Earnings used for the benefit calculation. OMERS explains these calculation inputs in its pension formula.
Because credited service and earnings differ between members, there is no standard OMERS bridge amount that applies to everyone.
When Does the OMERS Bridge Benefit Stop?
The bridge ends at age 65. If you start CPP at 60, your OMERS bridge does not end five years early. If you delay CPP beyond 65, OMERS does not extend the bridge until your CPP begins.
That independence is particularly useful to understand when planning retirement income. CPP can generally be started at different ages, but the OMERS bridge follows the pension plan’s own rules. The two amounts also do not have to match. The separate OMERS and CPP rules become relevant when deciding how the two income sources will overlap.
The month after you turn 65, your OMERS payment no longer includes the bridge. Your lifetime pension continues.
Not Every Member Who Leaves Before 65 Gets the Same Bridge
The 2013 OMERS benefit changes matter when someone leaves their OMERS employer before reaching their early retirement birthday. For an NRA 65 member, that birthday is 55. For an NRA 60 member, it is 50.
In that situation, OMERS divides the benefit according to when the credited service was earned. Pre-2013 credited service includes the bridge. For post-2012 credited service, an NRA 65 member does not receive a bridge component. An NRA 60 member can receive a five-year bridge component covering ages 60 through 65. The 2013 benefit-change rules explain how those portions are treated.
By contrast, a member who has reached the applicable early retirement birthday when employment ends is entitled to the bridge on all credited service.
That rule is easy to miss because two people can both have an OMERS pension beginning before 65 yet have different bridge entitlements based on when they left employment and when their service was earned.
Does Taking CPP Early Reduce Your OMERS Bridge?
Starting CPP before 65 does not reduce the bridge or make it disappear. OMERS confirms that your pension, including an eligible bridge benefit, is not affected by how much CPP you receive or when you choose to start CPP. OMERS treats CPP as a separate retirement-income source.
You could therefore receive CPP and the OMERS bridge at the same time before 65. The trade-off belongs to the CPP side of the decision because taking CPP earlier affects the CPP pension itself. It does not rewrite the OMERS bridge formula.
What Happens to Your Income at 65?
Someone receiving a bridge should plan for an OMERS payment decrease at 65 rather than discovering it when the deposit changes. The bridge was always temporary, so its disappearance does not mean OMERS has reduced the lifetime pension you earned.
CPP may replace some retirement income around the same age, but there is no promise that your CPP payment will equal the bridge that ends. Each benefit has its own formula.
Your remaining OMERS lifetime pension can continue to receive applicable inflation adjustments after 65. The rules governing those increases are covered separately under OMERS pension indexing. For planning, we would compare projected income immediately before and after 65 instead of assuming total retirement income will stay level.
Other Questions About the OMERS Bridge Benefit
Can you choose to keep the bridge after age 65?
The bridge cannot be extended by choice. It is designed as a temporary benefit ending at 65, while the lifetime component continues afterward.
Does a surviving spouse continue receiving your bridge benefit?
An OMERS survivor pension is based on the lifetime pension and does not include the bridge benefit. OMERS survivor-benefit rules
Can an early-retirement reduction affect the bridge benefit?
An OMERS pension started early can be reduced when the member does not qualify for an unreduced pension. The applicable retirement rules depend on the member’s service and circumstances, including the 2013 benefit changes.
Where can you see your estimated bridge amount?
The Retirement Planner in myOMERS can project retirement income for different retirement dates and include other income sources in the projection. OMERS Retirement Planner information
